[Book Spoilers] What did non-readers of the book make of it?

[Ser Warpechowski]

Pretty funny review, he goes completely nuts at the 8 min mark.

LOLLLLLLLLLLLLL

His quotes:

"King Robert, who takes the throne recently after the death of his father".

"King Robert plans to marry his son, his only son, to Ned´s daughter".

"Robert and Ned already have a bond because they served, I believe, under Robert´s father, who was the king".

"The Targaryans are the tribe that wants to get the iron throne".

"The tribe is in charge of the southern dominion of the realm".

"The first book got out in 1996, and then they released about one book every 2 years until 2000, when they released the fourth book" LOL WFT? 14 years for 3 books is not every two years.

"I thought the show was coming in winter because they always said "WINTER IS COMING"

"DUDE, THEY FUCKING KILLED THAT DUDE, AND I WAS GROWING ATACHED TO HIM, THEY ARE EVEN KILLING CHILDREN" (About Bran) ROFL

I liked how he noticed Jon and his future importance to the series.

[Prince of Dinas Emrys]

I watched it with my husband, who has not really read the books.

When we were talking afterwards, I asked him what he thought of the White Walkers at the start. He looked blank.

"You know, the monsters and the ice zombies?"

"Oh, they were meant to be monsters? I thought they were just guys with masks on." :shocked:

I guess that's a fail for the costume department!

He must have missed the part where the little dead girl came back to life with glowing blue eyes. That's one hell of a mask! :rolleyes:

Meanwhile, my friends who have not read the books (but are already into fantasy) loved the show and want to read the books now too.

[Piltdown]

LOLLLLLLLLLLLLL

His quotes:

...

"The first book got out in 1996, and then they released about one book every 2 years until 2000, when they released the fourth book" LOL WFT? 14 years for 3 books is not every two years.

Very true; however, 1996 to 2000 is 4 years, not fourteen! :drunk:

Also, this guy is inadvertently a riot. "Immma fuking blow dis muddafucka up, dayum"

[Datepalm]

LOLLLLLLLLLLLLL

His quotes:

"King Robert, who takes the throne recently after the death of his father".

"King Robert plans to marry his son, his only son, to Ned´s daughter".

"Robert and Ned already have a bond because they served, I believe, under Robert´s father, who was the king".

"The Targaryans are the tribe that wants to get the iron throne".

"The tribe is in charge of the southern dominion of the realm".

"The first book got out in 1996, and then they released about one book every 2 years until 2000, when they released the fourth book" LOL WFT? 14 years for 3 books is not every two years.

"I thought the show was coming in winter because they always said "WINTER IS COMING"

"DUDE, THEY FUCKING KILLED THAT DUDE, AND I WAS GROWING ATACHED TO HIM, THEY ARE EVEN KILLING CHILDREN" (About Bran) ROFL

I liked how he noticed Jon and his future importance to the series.

So evidently its totally possible to think its awesome while getting the background utterly muddled. Although, come to think of it, that 'putting together the puzzle' process takes place across the first few chapters of a fantasy book too. Interesting to see it in a tv show, where usually you expect to know what you need to know that isn't a deliberate mystery as of the end of the pilot.

Lol, no one knows how to pronounce "Cercei".

[broken one]

the wife was 'intrigued' but not enough to read the books. hrrrrrrrr... ok then!

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

The husband who refuses to read the books until the series is completed, LOVED it. He liked all the sex and swords :rolleyes: When Bran was pushed he sat there in stunned silence. Then pleaded with me to tell him that Bran lives. (Bran is about the same age as our son, and I think he was connecting the two)

[Balefont]

Pretty funny review, he goes completely nuts at the 8 min mark.

That was fucking EPIC. I'm totally following this guy's reviews from week to week. TOTALLY!

ETA: "I've been waitin' for this series since August." If he only knew.

This guy is adorable.

[Asha—Not Yara!]

So evidently its totally possible to think its awesome while getting the background utterly muddled. Although, come to think of it, that 'putting together the puzzle' process takes place across the first few chapters of a fantasy book too. Interesting to see it in a tv show, where usually you expect to know what you need to know that isn't a deliberate mystery as of the end of the pilot.

Lol, no one knows how to pronounce "Cercei".

Yep, I think this is a good example at how non-book readers without the benefit of someone sitting next to them who has read the the books, can still really enjoy the first episode want to see more. I've seen a lot of people fretting on these threads about how inaccessible the pilot is to viewers who haven't read the books, and while that may be the case for some people, I think the majority can understand well enough to follow the main the plot, and eventually the back history of Robert's Rebellion and how people are related to each other will fall into place.

I know myself well enough that if I hadn't read the books, while I'd have been confused about those same things, Dany's storyline still would have immediately grabbed my interest. I'd have wanted to tune in next week to see what happens with her. I also would of wanted to know what happened to that poor sweet boy who got tossed out the window. (The actor they got for Bran is amazing. I fell in love with that child, and there's absolutely no way that I wouldn't want to know his fate).

[HawkZ]

One of my friends who I watched it with hadn't read the series, and he said he enjoyed it enough to come back next week (we'll see Sunday!). The rest of us didn't do any kind of "explaining" 'til well after the episode was done, and he was fine & engaged.

I do think the breakneck pacing (which I personally actually really liked) was a bit of a problem relative to him getting certain points though... Namely, that Jon was Ned's son, that Cersei and Jaime were sibling, and that Robb and Theon were separate people. :stunned:

He also thought Dany was "awkward" as a character, which I thought was funny 'cos I'm a Dany fan, and was all about Emilia Clark.

As a side note, he and everyone else I watched it with cracked up during the nudity portion of the Dany bath scene... Funny to me because he is a huge HBO fan in general and is used to their HBO-ness, and because it was virtually the same group of frienss that I watched Shortbus with. So not exactly squeamish? :ohwell:

[TrueMetis]

Pretty funny review, he goes completely nuts at the 8 min mark.

Now I wish I had never read the books because his version of it is great. I am so watching his next review.

ETA: About the Dothraki "I'm not buying into this "they're savages", fuck that!" :rofl:

[DemiNymph]

The husband enjoyed the graphic violence. Not really the sex. He can't keep track of so many characters, especially the adults in Winterfell, but should get better once he gets into a few episodes. He asked me if Ned was Robert's brother. And can't really remember who was who, only Ned, Robert and Cersei. No problems with the Targs but I did have to explain how they were related to the story.

[Areo]

Here is another review by a newcommer to the series.

I came across this one cause it was in the similar category when I was watching the review mentioned above. It is also long (15 minutes) but not so emotional. He too needs to refer to sources from time to time. But he says he likes it better than LotR (which he's a fan of). I guess good news :) Those people loved the show even though they got some things wrong and still don't have a firm grip on all the characters. Oh, and his favorite is Jon Snow :)

[Balefont]

ETA: About the Dothraki "I'm not buying into this "they're savages", fuck that!" :rofl:

I know. I was like RIGHT ON!

[Balefont]

I should also point out that our non-reader friend watched it with us and I ended up sending the book home with him because he wanted to read it. :)

I think this will bring me tally up to somewhere in the realm of 37 people I've gotten to read the series.

[Bronn is God]

Pretty funny review, he goes completely nuts at the 8 min mark.

I just cannot wait till he meets Bronn.

[GoTreviews]

I should also point out that our non-reader friend watched it with us and I ended up sending the book home with him because he wanted to read it. :)

I think this will bring me tally up to somewhere in the realm of 37 people I've gotten to read the series.

37 is a pretty nice number, congrats. I did miss this thread at first, but I'll jump in for a related question. How do you feel about your friends who, having seen the pilot, want to start reading the books?

My first reaction was "hey, great, the more people to read them the better" ... but now that I did watch the pilot a number of times, I wonder if the show wouldn't be more enjoyable to non readers. I mean, there's a lot of stuff going on that can not possibly surprise us anymore ("HEY WAIT IS THAT HIS SISTER?!").

So I'm curious. Would you advise book first then TV show ? TV show then book ? Both at the same time ?

I personnally think that the TV first then books combo will be the one that work out the best. The show needs his cliffhangers and so on, that you can't possibly get anymore, once you've read the books. And on the other hand, I think the books can still amaze you, even if you know everything about the story. Yeah, I really do believe they're that good.

But still, some more opinions would be very welcome on this subject, since I don't exactly feel like stopping my friends from reading and tell them to wait a month and half before going at it...

[Underfoot]

My sister really enjoyed it and had a good grasp of who the characters were, if not their names, so I think that's a good sign. She also noted the abundance of sex and (gasp!) incest, but wasn't turned off by it. HBO has GoT itself another fan :thumbsup:

[Xenophon]

37 is a pretty nice number, congrats. I did miss this thread at first, but I'll jump in for a related question. How do you feel about your friends who, having seen the pilot, want to start reading the books?

My first reaction was "hey, great, the more people to read them the better" ... but now that I did watch the pilot a number of times, I wonder if the show wouldn't be more enjoyable to non readers. I mean, there's a lot of stuff going on that can not possibly surprise us anymore ("HEY WAIT IS THAT HIS SISTER?!").

So I'm curious. Would you advise book first then TV show ? TV show then book ? Both at the same time ?

I personnally think that the TV first then books combo will be the one that work out the best. The show needs his cliffhangers and so on, that you can't possibly get anymore, once you've read the books. And on the other hand, I think the books can still amaze you, even if you know everything about the story. Yeah, I really do believe they're that good.

But still, some more opinions would be very welcome on this subject, since I don't exactly feel like stopping my friends from reading and tell them to wait a month and half before going at it...

Depends on your friends' taste, IMO. I think both the TV show and the book will be better the 1st time, so they've got to decide which they want to get the most out of. (I don't think reading and watching simultaneously is really doable--the books are too much of a page turner.) Most of my friends view TV as basically an enjoyable distraction, so I'd tell them to read the books first, since they'll enjoy the show anyway, and will get the books as they were intended to be read. On the other hand, some of them are so busy that they won't really have time to properly enjoy the books anyway, so I'd just tell them to watch the show.

[DaddyTorgo]

My father's thoughts after I got him to watch (thoughts via text message exchange):

Dad: "Guy who pushed the kid is a shit. Want to see him suffer."

Me: "Exactly - he's actually a very interesting, layered character. But also a shit, yes."

Dad: "King is clearly in much more trouble than he knows. Queen is nastier version of Lady Macbeth."

Dad: "Hero is complex - what's with chopping people's heads off all of a sudden?"

Dad: "King's son looks like a perv."

Dad: "The bastard is the one who is easiest to like right now."

Me: "Bastard is great...complicated story there. Book readers have theory he is ultimate hero."

Dad: "This is a book series?"

Me: "Yes! 4/7 of the way done"

Dad: "Let me try the first volume."

LOVE IT!!!

[Regina]

A friend of ours reported that she and her husband really liked it, and didn't have any problems following the story. Also, she was certain Jaime was going to push Bran as soon as that last scene started. Now she wants Summer to hurry up and grow as big as the mother Direwolf so he can avenge Bran.